Year 9 Rugby Tournament

The tournament on the evening of Thursday 20 April was an absolute delight. The students were incredible and showed huge determination with such a small squad. Both myself and Mr Pullan were blown away with the talent we have seen and I am really looking forward to future tournaments with these boys. As always all of the 9 students that came to play behaved impeccably and continue to set the standard for the other year groups accompanying me to rugby tournaments.

We played 3 games with the top 2 teams moving forward into the “Rhinos 9s Super League” and the bottom 2 teams moving into the “Rhinos 9s Champions League”.

On arrival, and with the absence of Jaykob who would usually captain the team, I put Bryan Ntumba in charge due to the dedication he has shown throughout the year and in recent days.

Our first game was against hosts Garforth Academy. We set out strong scoring first but it was very apparent we were against a team with multiple students playing rugby outside of school. Garforth answered with 2 well worked tries, putting the pressure on us to come back and score. With some outstanding vision from Godwill and some great input from captain Bryan, we managed to cross the line twice in quick succession after a great phase of defence. Unfortunately, Garforth were able to score in the final play of the game to bring the game level at 3 tries each, drawing the first game.

Our 2nd game was against Leeds East, they had some big students playing for them and had won their previous match 7-3. Our students showed incredible discipline, creating pressure on the attacking team and shutting them down early into their attacks. We won our 2nd game 7-2 with a number of different scorers throughout the game. Godwill absolutely led from the front, along with Bryan and Carrick, creating issues for the defence of Leeds East and organising our attacking line. The team were able to maintain composure throughout when it looked like they were running away with the game and it could easily have gone to their heads.

Our final game was against Carr Manor. We went into the game with our heads held high and a determination to come away from the game with a win without conceding a try. The team started very strong, running in tries quickly from anywhere on the field. Some fantastic defensive efforts from Bryan, Uyi and Aaron meant that we were able to keep Carr Manor from scoring. As a collective they were able to run in 9 tries and win the game 9-0!

At the end of the tournament the atmosphere within the team was electric. Everyone had played every minute of every game due to us only having 9 in attendance. They have shown incredible heart and have done themselves and the school proud.

We are now through to the “Rhinos 9s Super League” tournament in the summer. If successful they will go through to a final tournament which will be played at Headingley Stadium where the Rhinos play.

The team were as follows:

Bryan Ntumba, Uyi Igbinovia Ashulimen, Bradley Wambalu, Victory Ukah, Edwin Dos Reis Hopffer, Carrick Nguekap Njinko, Godwill Peprah,

Scott DeGbalou & Aaron Obosu

They were fantastic and once again remind me of why I give up my time to ensure they do not miss out on these opportunities to represent MSM.

Mr S Cooper